'Community Involvement Day' a great success!

Lookout at The Dell

On April 26, more than 170 people attended a Community Involvement Day at The Dell, Clifton Springs, where they planted native grasses and learnt about the area's ecology and history.

The event consisted of five ecology and history activities, each lasting about 25 minutes. At the end of the activities, the Clifton Springs Lions served up a BBQ lunch, along with fruit and a cool drink.

The 170 participants comprised about 140 students from the Drysdale Primary School and the Clifton Springs Primary School, about 10 teachers, 20 parents, and volunteers from Bellarine Catchment Management Network, City of Greater Geelong, Bellarine Bayside, Corangamite Catchment Management Authority, Geelong Indigenous Nursery, Bellarine Landcare.

After lunch, Drysdale Primary School principal Phil Dunlop-Moore spoke on behalf of the two schools participating. He emphasised that the area is our home, that we should take care of it and that today's event was a way to take care of it. Phil was followed by Karin Sheppard, president of the Bellarine Catchment Network, who thanked the students for taking part, the volunteers for their help and of course, the Lions for lunch. Drysdale & Clifton Springs Community Association Treasurer Doug Carson wound up the event by thanking everyone for their hard work, then two school students each said 'Thank you' to the organisers for making the event happen.

Doug Carson said, 'Clearly, the event was a success - I kept getting asked, "When are you having another one?"!'

The Community Involvement Day is part of a programme to revegetate the area, being run by a DCSCA-led consortium of local organisations, including the Dept of Sustainability & Environment, Landcare, Bellarine Catchment Network and the City of Greater Geelong. The consortium received $15,000 from the Commonwealth Government's Caring for our Country Community Action Grants program to undertake the work.

The Community Involvement Day was scheduled originally for June 22 2012, but bad weather forced its postponement to August 24 2012, when land slippage forced a second postponement. (See earlier posts on drycliftdays: 'Dell project survives storms, landslips!' [September 12 2012]; and '"Greening" the Dell' [May 9 2012].) 

Clifton Springs fountain 'on the radar'

The future of the Clifton Springs fountain is now part of the City of Greater Geelong's budget negotiations. 

Councillor Lindsay Ellis (Coryule ward) has told members of the Clifton Springs fountain working group that councillors will consider the fountain's future as part of the negotiations leading to the council's 2013/14 budget. He added that a report on the fountain's condition - and an estimate of the cost of refurbishing it - is due from council officers on 23 April.

Cr Ellis emphasized that at this stage in the council's budget process, he couldn't guarantee that the council would commit any funds to the fountain, let alone any specific figure. However, at last the fountain's future is 'on the radar' as the council develops policies to fund the maintenance of such 'public art' across Geelong.

Doing something new .... in keeping with the old
In response, the members of the fountain working group emphasized that local people want something done about the fountain's continuing deterioration. They feel that it has been neglected for far too long and they’re concerned not just because it is becoming an eyesore but because they are genuinely fond of it and want this piece of public art to become once more something of which they can be proud and from which they can gain pleasure.

A public meeting on March 12 about the fountain's future expressed broad support for renovating the structure and including a major glass structure (e.g. an abstract ‘sculpture’). A much smaller amount of water would flow over the structure in an enclosed (i.e. non-evaporative) system featuring signs and symbols of the area’s past and possible futures. This would link the fountain with some of the public art at The Dell; it would evoke the time when mineral water was exported from Clifton Springs in torpedo-shaped glass bottles; and it would celebrate the growing reputation of Drysdale/Clifton Springs as a centre of glass-related art, craft and industry through the impacts of the annual Festival of Glass.

A fountain reflecting local people's wishes

Members of the fountain working group - which includes representation from the Drysdale & Clifton Springs Community Association - are doing background investigations into various aspects of the fountain, prior to presenting some options for its future to a second public meeting. They are determined that the fountain should be renovated in a way that reflects - as far as possible - local people’s values, ideals and hopes for their future; and are keen to work with councillors and officers to that end.

Drysdale cemetery safe 'in perpetuity'

Catholic church, eastern cemetery, Drysdale

Geelong Cemeteries Trust CEO Darryl Thomas has stated that  the Trust has decided to retain its vacant land next to Drysdale cemetery, rather than sell it off.

Mr Thomas made the announcement at a public meeting in Drysdale on April 17, prompting spontaneous applause from the thirty local people who attended. The Drysdale & Clifton Springs Community Association had organised the meeting, following  months of speculation about the cemetery's future.

Mr. Thomas told the meeting that the Trust had considered selling the vacant land and using the proceeds to buy land elsewhere on the Bellarine Peninsula for a new cemetery to service the whole Peninsula. He pointed out that if the City of Greater Geelong rezoned the Trust's vacant Drysdale land as 'High density residential', it would be worth a lot of money. However, the Trust's proposal had generated significant local opposition. This led the Trust to abandon its proposal to sell off the land and, instead, to use it to expand the existing Drysdale cemetery.

Mr. Thomas also sought to calm any fears that any part of the (expanded) cemetery might face a 'change of use' in the future. Graves, he said, exist 'in perpetuity' and so a burial ground, once created, remains a burial ground forever.

Third time lucky for Dell project?

A DCSCA-led consortium will run a Community Involvement Day at The Dell on April 26.

During the day, around 130 local primary school students (plus parents and teachers!) will plant dozens of native plants in the area around The Dell lookout, learning about environmental stewardship and sustainability as they go.

The Community Involvement Day is part of a programme to revegetate the area, for which the consortium received $15,000 from the Commonwealth Government's Caring for our Country Community Action Grants program. The consortium includes the Dept of Sustainability & Environment, Landcare, Bellarine Catchment Network and the City of Greater Geelong.

The Community Involvement Day was scheduled originally for June 22 2012, but bad weather forced its postponement to August 24 2012, when land slippage forced a second postponement. If anyone sees a plague of locusts on the horizon, please tell the consortium!

(See earlier posts on drycliftdays: 'Dell project survives storms, landslips!' [September 12 2012]; and '"Greening" the Dell' [May 9 2012].)

A fountain with friends

Clifton Springs fountain 

Around thirty people concerned about the state of the Clifton Springs fountain met last night and resolved to establish a working group charged with investigating the current state of the fountain and proposing options for its future.

The fountain originally marked the gateway to the then-new Clifton Springs housing estate and was a larger, grander structure than it is now. The fountain itself was switched off during the recent years-long long drought and, as a consequence,  the fountain's pipes and pumps have been damaged significantly. The City of Greater Geelong owns the fountain and is responsible for its maintenance as part of the city's collection of 'public art'.

At last night's meeting at SpringDale Neighbourhood Centre, a range of local residents expressed a variety of concerns about the fountain's future. Three broad options emerged from the discussion:
1. Do nothing. This was dismissed immediately - people had come to the meeting to get something done!
2. Return the fountain to its former glory. While several people supported this idea, there was general concern about a fountain splashing away beautifully when we're trying to conserve water. There was also concern about the possible cost of mending or replacing the original pipes and pumps.
3. Rework the fountain as a piece of public art.  Several people were attracted by the idea of amending the structure to turn it from a sad, unused fountain into a celebration of the area's history and future. There was broad support for integrating some form of toughened, industrial glass 'sculpture' into the structure - perhaps with an enclosed water feature using recycled water.

It was pointed out that mixing glass and water would evoke the time at the start of the 20th century when Clifton Springs was famous for its bottled mineral springs water; and it would build on the area's growing reputation as a centre for glass art and craft around the annual Festival of Glass and the planned Bellarine Glass Trail.

The meeting resolved to form a small working group to investigate the engineering and funding issues around the fountain's future and to talk to the City of Greater Geelong officers and councillors about refurbishing the fountain. Once this work was done, the working group would report back to the larger group and present some possible next steps. Local councillor Lindsay Ellis has shown some interest in the fountain's future already and he would be among the first people the group would contact.

Finally, the people at the meeting decided to call themselves 'Friends of the Fountain' - albeit a dry fountain at present!

2013 Glass Expo beats the heat!

Crowds at the 2013 Festival of Glass

Thousands of people braved 38 degree conditions to visit the Glass expo in Drysdale, Victoria on Sunday 17 February.

The Expo was the focus of the 2013 Festival of Glass, a DCSCA initiative now in its third year. Visitors strolled around the 70-plus sites, looking at glass of all shapes, sizes, colours and forms. With so much diversity, there was something for everyone to see - from leadlight to lampwork, from splashbacks to platters and from beads to bottles.

A warm welcome
The Expo's official opening started with a 'Welcome To Country' from Uncle David Tournier, of the Wathaurong Aboriginal Co-op in Geelong. This was followed by greetings from Doug Carson, Chair of the 2013 Festival of Glass committee, local councillor Rod Macdonald and state MP Lisa Neville. Finally, Geelong Mayor Keith Fagg declared the Expo officially open!

On Twitter, Cr. Fagg wrote, '@ festival of Glass Opening. Stunning array of glass in all forms. All day Sunday at Bellarine College, Drysdale.' Thanks, Mr. Mayor!

After the opening ceremony, our guests talked with exhibitors as they walked around the Expo. They remarked on the diversity of the exhibits, the high quality of the entries in the glass-art competition and the attractiveness of the prizes in the raffle, each one donated by an exhibitor at this year's Festival.

Kind words
Since the Expo, many exhibitors have posted messages of thanks and appreciation on the Festival's Facebook page. Several exhibitors were kind enough to remark on the Festival's high degree of organisation. E.g. 'we exhibitors don't have to worry about anything other than our own tables during setup, take down and the day itself.'

The Festival Committee is basking in those kind words .... before addressing the list of suggested improvements for 2014!

We're getting talked about!

Festival of Glass exhibitor Katrina Newman has just published an article about the Festival on her blog. (http://katrinanewman.com/2013/02/07/festival-of-glass/)

The article has a great photo (reproduced here) of some of Katrina's hand-made flamework beads annealing (cooling and hardening) in her kiln.

As Katrina says, 'It's going to be a colourful day, do drop by and say hello'.